


My Hero

by baloobird



Series: Our Favorite "Guy in the Chair" [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, However you want to read it as, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Nightmares, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Cuddling, Precious Ned Leeds, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Ned Leeds, Romantic Cuddling, Romantic Fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24063244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baloobird/pseuds/baloobird
Summary: Ned is sleeping over at the Parkers' and he wakes up to hear his best friend in the midst of a nightmare.Well, Ned can't let him just suffer through it, can he?
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds/Peter Parker
Series: Our Favorite "Guy in the Chair" [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1469909
Comments: 26
Kudos: 200





	My Hero

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling very soft and then this happened 
> 
> I originally wrote this with the intention to keep them as a friendship but I teetered on the line between platonic and not, so you can read this however you want 😂
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!💜

Ned is moving, but he has no idea where.

They’re quick movements, ones that could mimic a jolt, like the kind on a roller coaster that make his stomach lurch.

But what the hell is causing this? He hasn’t been anywhere or done anything to warrant this -

The teenager is then startled awake, feeling his bed jerk from underneath him.

_ Oh, that’s what it is. _

It takes a second for him to come to, wiping the sleep from his eyes and taking in his surroundings.

Only for them to squint in confusion.

_ Wait, this isn’t my room. _

He then feels the bed jerk a second time and the boy looks down, relaxing as he sees his best friend asleep in the bottom bunk.

_ Oh yeah,  _ duh, _ I’m at Peter’s. _

His forehead creases in concern as he feels his bunk shake once again, looking around to see what’s causing it while his hand is tightly gripped onto the ladder at the foot of the bed to keep himself steady. 

It’s then that he sees his friend’s legs restlessly moving side to side with no rhythm, causing the bunk beds to move once more.

“What the hell?” Ned mutters, moving towards the head of his bunk and looking down, keeping a tight grip on the railing.

He sees the hero asleep on his stomach, with his head facing the bedroom door, face scrunched up in concentration and breathing in slight gasps of air.

The other teen’s eyebrows narrow before they rise as the realization hits.

Peter is having a nightmare.

“Oh shit,” Ned whispers as he hurries down the short ladder, kneeling in front of his best friend. He gently shakes the other’s shoulder, “Peter,” he says gently, “Peter, wake up.” 

However, the spiderling doesn’t hear him, continuing to shake the bunk beds while releasing an occasional whimper, breaking his friend’s heart.

The dark-haired teen squeezes that shoulder and continues nudging, raising his voice, “Peter, wake up. You’re okay, everything’s okay, you just need to wake up, man.”

At last, Peter awakes with a loud gasp, shaking his head to get out of whatever he was reliving.

Ned can’t even guess at what the nightmare was about. His friend has been through so much that figuring out his dream could be a multiple-choice test question.

Even worse, a “check all that apply.”

“Peter,  _ Peter, _ it’s okay, it’s just me,” Ned says, letting go of his shoulder, “You were just having a bad dream.”

“Wha -” the other boy cuts himself as he takes in his surroundings before setting his eyes on his friend, “Ned?” He asks, groggily.

“The one and only,” said kid answers jokingly, trying to lighten the mood, “Are you okay, that didn’t look like a fun dream you just had.”

Peter settles back onto his pillow staring up at the underside of the bunk above him, “Yeah…yeah-yeah, I’m good -”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Ned responds, looking unamused.

“Ned, I don’t wanna talk about it, okay? Thanks for waking me up but I’m fine.” The hero wipes some beads of sweat off of his forehead, taking a few more deep breaths to calm down.

“Seriously?” The sidekick responds, “You’re just gonna go back to sleep after all of that?”

“What choice do I have?” Peter turns on his side, facing his friend, “I can’t stay up. If I fall asleep during the day, May’s gonna ask questions.”

“Taking a nap on a Saturday isn’t an uncommon thing, dude.”

“You don’t know May,  _ dude, _ I just don’t want her to ask questions.”

“You wanna call Mr. Stark or something?”

Ned doesn’t know how he knows, he just does. He knows that Iron Man is his friend’s go-to for when something like this happens, like having a dream about an event that no other loved ones can relate to except the billionaire himself.

Peter stares longingly at his phone on his nightstand, pursing his lips in a way that shows that he wants to call him but is holding back.

“No,” the spider-boy answers dejectedly, “I don’t wanna worry him, it wasn’t one of the really bad ones, anyway.”

The other teen’s eyes widen surprise.

_ There’s  _ levels _ to this?! _

_ Jesus. _

Ned desperately wants to know what the dream was about, but he keeps his mouth shut, valuing his best friend’s privacy, “You sure you gonna be okay?”

Peter nods his head and he wraps his covers tighter around him, clearly not fine but Ned doesn’t push, “I’m sorry I woke you up -”

“I’m glad you did,” Ned says reassuringly, “Need anything before I head back up?”

The hero gives his friend a look that Ned can’t quite read. Is Peter mad, upset, embarrassed, pissed off? 

_ Check all that apply. _

With nothing more to do, Ned says, sighing defeatedly, “Well, lemme know if you need anything, okay? Just, I don’t know, knock on my bunk or something.”

A ghost of a smile barely escapes the spiderling as he nods his head, “Thanks.”

Just as the other teen starts to get up, he mindlessly takes a glance at his friend and the sight of the poor guy’s eyes make him stop in his tracks.

Fear.

Peter is scared to go back to sleep, the sidekick guesses, so what can he do to help?

Ned then makes a split-second decision.

He stands up and grabs his pillow from the top bunk. He then says, leaning down towards his friend, “Scoot over.”

“What?” Peter asks, looking up in confusion.

“Scoot over. What if you have another bad dream or something?”

“Uh,” the spiderling starts, but then he releases a defeated sigh, sliding closer to the wall. He holds up the covers for his best friend and Ned gets in, putting down his pillow with no choice but having it overlap with Peter’s.

“You good?” Ned asks, adjusting to get into a comfortable position. He quickly realizes that one set of covers isn’t enough so he reaches up and drags his comforter down, covering it over the two of them.

“Yeah,” the hero replies in a small voice, curling himself into his own covers as he leans more towards his friend despite not having much room to move anyway.

“You sure?” The sidekick reaffirms, looking over at the other teenager, seeing him relax slightly which puts a sleepy smile on the dark-haired kid’s face.

“Yeah-Yeah, yeah I’m good.” Peter rests his head on the other’s shoulder, letting out a deep breath of relief, “Thanks.”

“Don’t get a big head, this bed’s just more comfortable,” Ned says jokingly, leading the two of them to a slight giggle fit. He then asks, “Wanna talk about it?”

He can feel his best friend’s head shake against his shoulder. The hero says, curling more into himself, “I just wanna go back to sleep.”

Ned moves that respective arm and loosely wraps it around the spider-boy’s shoulders. He wasn’t planning on doing anything more in fear that Peter wouldn’t respond well to it but his concerns are proven wrong when said teen curls more him, resting his head just above the other’s collarbone, right next to his neck.

The sidekick has got to admit.

_ This feels kinda nice. _

Ned squeezes his grip on his friend and in return, Peter’s arm peeks out from the covers and wraps it around his friend’s torso.

“You’ll be okay, y’know,” the “Guy in the Chair” starts, “If the ‘Boogeyman’ comes, he’s gotta get through  _ me.” _

That elicits a snort out of the other boy, giving his friend a heartfelt squeeze,  _ “My hero.” _

Both geniuses release a soft chuckle, lightening the atmosphere of the dark bedroom for a few seconds. Peter then says when he settles down, “Thank you…I wasn’t kidding.”

Ned can’t help but feel fuzzy inside as he tightens his grip on his friend. Before he can respond, the spiderling concludes, “‘Night, Ned.”

“Yeah, yeah, g’night.” The dark-haired teen adds on, “I’ll be here.”

He feels his chest fill with more of that fuzziness that he can’t quite explain as the other boy gives him another squeeze around his torso. Ned lets himself relax fully, trying not to focus on the fact that in less than an hour, someone is going to move and they’ll both be cattywampus for the rest of the night.

And Ned can bet every cent he owns - which to be frank, isn’t much - that he’s going to wake up with a cramped arm.

But when he sees Peter’s eyes finally start to droop, as Ned watches the other kid’s back rise and fall to the pattern of his breathing, he finds that as long as his friend is okay, he doesn’t care.

However Ned feels, it’s all worth it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! I'm also on Tumblr @baloobird


End file.
